Ocean-going jumbos possibly disoriented
Wildlife experts have not been able to adequately explain why a few elephants had been sighted in distress in the oceans closer to shore in the east and even in the deep seas. Some suspect they had been disoriented. Elephants are known to be able to negotiate lakes, reservoirs and rivers. Once again, this week, the navy helped to rescue two elephants seen in the waters off Trincomalee.
The rescue operation in progress
They had been detected by sailors on a patrol boat about one kilometre from shore near Round Island at about 6:30 am onSunday, July 30. A team of divers and three more fast attack craft were called in to guide the jumbos back to land. The divers secured a rope around the elephants to help drag them to shore.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation Trinco range office was also alerted to the incident. Around 11:40 am, the two elephants reached the shallow waters around Foul Point in Trincomalee. From there, the wildlife team took control and drove the elephants back to a nearby forest patch.
Trincomalee wildlife range officer, K A Srimal, said they were two young elephants and appeared to be in good health. Two weeks ago, the navy helped to pull to shore another elephant which had gone swimming.
On July 11, a lookout aboard a Dvora patrol craft saw an object about 8 nautical miles offshore from Kokkuthuduwai in Kokilai at about 9:00am, Lieutenant Commander MBC Perera later recalled. It turned out to be an elephant in distress. The rescue was complicated and dangerous and it took nearly 12 hours, ending only at late at night.
He recalled heavy rains at the time and rough seas.
Divers called to the scene took major risks trying to wrap a rope around the belly of the beast to help pull it to shore, slowly. Videos show that the creature appeared spent from struggling against strong currents and could not react aggressively to the human presence.
A navy diver did however recalled being struck by the struggling elephant’s foot and being pushed 10 feet under water as he attempted to cast a rope around the animal. It was about 4:00pmwhen the sailors began to haul the animal, stopping on occasions to allow it to catch up. When they reached the shallows, it was7:30 pm. Wildlife officers came in to help once the creature walked on to shore. The elephant was chased back in into the forest around Pulmuddai.
Wildlife ranger Mr Srimal said elephants had been seen in inland reservoirs such as Gal Oya, Udawalawe, and Maduru Oya.
There are also historical accounts of jumbos swimming on to islands in Trincomalee from the mainland.
Howard Martenstyn remembers seeing a swimming pachyderm back in the 1960s when one swam to Elephant Island from the Trinco dockyard area. Elephant researcher Dr Prithiviraj Fernando suspects that the elephant seen far from shore in the deep seas may have been disoriented and was dragged away by a strong ocean current.
He also remembers that in 2010, an elephant was seen in the seas near Norway Island off Sampur. It has been a translocated animal and had a radio collar. Dr Fernando believes it ended up in the sea in an attempt to find its way back to home. The elephant, named ‘Brigadier’ was found dead, later, having fallen into an abandoned agro-well.
source – 30/07/2017, The Sunday times, see more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170730/news/ocean-going-jumbos-possibly-disoriented-252509.html
Over 1.mn people hit by drought: DMC
The total number of people affected by the prevailing drought had increased over one million, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) census said today.
The DMC said that eight provinces out of the nine, where people in 17 districts were hit by the drought.
According to the DMC latest situation report 1, 093, 717 people belonging to 314, 049 families had been severely affected by the prevailing drought.
The Northern Province is the most affected Province with a total of 462, 815 individuals belonging to 133, 678 families being hit by the drought.
The North-Western Province and the Eastern Province followed with a total 281, 013 people belonging to 82, 513 families and 211, 736 people belonging to 59, 003 families respectively.
In the Kurunegala District 149, 962 individuals belonging to 45, 730 families were affected by the drought.
Meanwhile, 79, 602 people belonging to 23, 285 families in the North-Central, 20, 641 people belonging to 5, 904 families in the Central Province, 29, 868 people belonging to 7, 668 families in the Uva Province, 812 people belonging to 183 families in the Sabaragamuwa Province and 7, 230 people belonging 1, 875 families in the Southern Province reportedly affected by the drought.
The DMC report said that out of 17 affected districts, drinking water was provided to selected areas in ten districts.
Meanwhile, the Meteorology Department said that showers or thunder showers could be expected in the in Central, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces and several spells of shower will occur in North-Western Province today.
Source – 30/07/2017, Dailymirror, See more at – http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Over-mn-people-hit-by-drought-DMC-133780.html
Landslide risk: thirty families evacuated from Dikarawa
Thirty families from Dikarawa of Badulla have been temporarily evacuated from their homes.
Deputy Director of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), Pradeep Kodippili stated that the residents had been evacuated upon detection of the formation of cracks in the region.
The evacuated populace has been temporarily resettled at the National Youth Corps Training Centre in Bindunuwewa, Bandarawela.
A few days ago, a group of residents of Dikarawa, a region which falls under the Ella Divisional Secretariat division, had engaged in a demonstration owing to the risk of landslides in the area.
Source – 28/07/2017, Ada Derana, See more at – http://www.adaderana.lk/news/42216/landslide-risk-thirty-families-evacuated-from-dikarawa
26 held for illegal fishing
Naval personnel attached to the Northern Naval Command arrested 26 suspects engaged in illegal fishing activities without valid fishing passes, in the Manatkadu sea area, Point Pedro yesterday, Navy said.
Sixteen (16) dinghies, 233 fishing nets and 2 GPS units were also taken into naval custody along with the suspects. The arrested persons and their fishing items were handed over to the Point Pedro Fisheries Inspector for onward investigations.
Source – 27/07/2017, Times Online, See more at -= http://www.sundaytimes.lk/article/1028494/26-held-for-illegal-fishing
Court requested to release elephants for processions
The domesticated elephant protection association has requested the Court to release all licensed elephants for the religious processions.
The chairman of the association Ven. Magalkande Sudaththa Thero, stated that due to the religious processions taking place at this time of the year, the elephants need to be released as they are a key part of the procession itself.
The court will give their verdict on the matter today (26).
Ven. Magalkande Sudaththa Thero, brought these statements out during a media briefing held yesterday (25).
Source – 26/07/2017,Ada Derana, See more at – http://www.adaderana.lk/news/42163/court-requested-to-release-elephants-for-processions-
Is the herbicide Glyphosate safe?
It was reported in recent issues of several local newspapers that a four-member cabinet subcommittee has been appointed to study a cabinet paper that seeks permission for a limited use of glyphosate (often known by its original brand name, Roundup) in the plantation sector. The cabinet paper apparently had been submitted on the basis of a report by a committee appointed to make recommendations with regards to the pesticide and insecticide policy to the ministerial committee on economic management. This review of the decision is to reconsider the existing ban on glyphosate, a widely used chemical weedicide, to boost dwindling tea crops by cost-effective removal of overgrowing weeds in tea lands.
The request by the plantation management to control weeds in their tea plantations ‘efficiently’ by chemical means, as had been done in the past before the ban, in order to resuscitate the dwindling tea industry, particularly in the mountainous watershed areas of the country, is understandable from their short-term economic perspective. However, at a time when the Government is committed to sustainable development, in which the costs of the overall negative impacts of health aspects all-round (using internationally accepted precautionary principle in the absence of concrete evidence, as yet) also need to be given its due consideration in an era of moving towards an all inclusive Sustainable Development and Green Economy in the longer term.
Rethinking tea 150 years on
Perhaps, this may be an ideal juncture, at a time the Sri Lankan tea industry is celebrating its 150 years of existence, to re-examine their economic development strategies in the light of the impact of their current plantation management systems on ecosystem services such as soil and water conservation, nutrient cycling and maintenance of soil fertility etc. and also their commitment to sustainable eco-friendly agricultural development. If these eco-friendly measures are taken into consideration by the tea plantation industry, it will help to get premium prices with lesser amount of lands used for tea and using lesser amount of labour which is already an issue in the plantations. With respect to cash crop agriculture as a whole, there needs a complete revamp of the present day agricultural and tree crop cultivation systems, particularly in our mountainous watershed areas.
On the other hand, it is also a national obligation of the Sri Lankan scientific community to monitor long-term impacts of the current land use pattern that requires continuous use of chemical weedicides, pesticides and insecticides in tea, vegetable and other commercial crop cultivations in the watershed areas.
Coming back to the issue of revision of the current ban on Glyphosate, a number of scientific reports are emerging in the international literature both for and against its use in controlling weeds which the ministerial subcommittee and/or their advisors should be looking at before making their decision with far reaching impact.
How safe is glyphosate?
One of such excellent appraisals of recent origin is from two scientists, Dr. Vijay Paul and Dr. Rakesh Pandey from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute who have made an exhaustive review of the literature available on the safety of glyphosate – [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] in the journal, Current Science Volume 112, No. 1, January 10, 2017 (Journal Impact Factor 0.843 in 2016/17). This article may be downloaded from the web to get scientific details (http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/112/01/0011.pdf) some of which I wish to highlight for the general readership.
Glyphosate is one of the most common and largest selling herbicides worldwide, having first registered in the US in 1974. It is a water-soluble, systemic (absorbed through leaves and also roots) and broad spectrum (non-selective) herbicide. It inhibits the biosynthesis of several amino acids by blocking an enzyme in these amino acid biosynthetic pathway in plants as well as in microorganisms (that include beneficial bacteria in the human gut and those in the soils that contribute to maintain soil fertility), but not in animals including humans.
The aforesaid Indian article quotes several international scientific publications which report that continuous and long-term exposure to glyphosate is responsible for a multitude of modern human diseases, including gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary edema, adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, infertility, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, prion diseases, lupus, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neural tube defects, hypertension, glaucoma, osteoporosis, fatty liver disease and kidney failure, celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
Another recently reported adverse impact of glyphosate is severe depletion of serum Mn and disruption of bile acid homeostasis and in this way glyphosate can promote autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety disorder, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease, renal lithiasis, osteomalacia, cholestasis, thyroid dysfunction and infertility. It further states that all the above conditions can be substantially explained on the basis of defective regulation of Mn utilization in the body due to glyphosate.
Additionally, glyphosate contamination has contributed towards the increase in chronic and acute kidney failure, pancreatitis, different types of cancers, various disorders, especially to newborns, not only in humans, but in animals as well. A study published in 2013 reports that the incidences of above diseases/conditions are also rising in many countries with the rise in the use of glyphosate on core/edible crops. Having used glyphosate world over for several decades, its possible health impacts are becoming increasingly evident in scientific literature.
On the basis of these increasing scientific evidence, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a ‘probable carcinogen’ in 2016. However, a later statement issued by the experts from the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Association (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) completely overturned their earlier decision and stated that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans. The European Chemicals Agency in early 2017 has given an all-clear certificate, concluding that it is not linked to heightened risk of cancer in people.
This debate on the safety of glyphosate continues to rage as to whether it is associated with a heightened risk of cancer or whether it has the potential to disrupt hormone function and other associated disorders. Some researchers claim that the safety standards used to evaluate glyphosate in the US were prepared more than 30 years ago and based on out- of-date science and may not be able to address the full complement of potential hazards associated with long-term exposure to these chemicals which are now surfacing worldwide. Consequently, these safety standards need urgent review as they may be failing to protect public and environmental health, these researchers claim.
There are several other important issues that have not been adequately addressed by both groups of scientists. One such issue is the use of so called ‘inert ingredients’ that are mixed with glyphosate – the active ingredient- in the preparation of the weedicide mixtures for commercial purposes. These may be even more potent and more harmful than the active ingredient -glyphosate. However, these mixtures being regarded as commercially sensitive formulations by the manufacturers and are therefore, not available for public scrutiny. As such, their chemical composition is not appearing on the label of the product package, according to expert scientists. Consequently, proper scientific investigations should examine the effects of these commercial formulations, as well.
Glyphosate resistant weeds
One of the more serious ecological consequences emerging from the repeated use of glyphosate (or any pesticide, herbicide or insecticide, for that matter) over a long period of time is the development of glyphosate resistant weeds. At least 15 species of weeds have developed resistance to glyphosate in the U.S., and resistant weeds are spreading around the world, according to the International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. Once an important weed-control tool, glyphosate is now unreliable, even for farmers who have never planted genetically modified crops.
Please see the following reference for more details: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i37/Rocky-Road-Roundup.html
This international debate will, no doubt, continue to protract for decades (as in the case of cigarette smoking and cancer debate) due to confrontational approaches taken by vested interests as seen in the readers ‘comments on articles on the web. But the Sri Lankan scientific community following the Indian initiative mentioned above, should avoid getting entangled in these verbal diatribes and instead should accelerate long-term interdisciplinary studies already initiated on the health and environmental impacts of improper use of agrochemicals in our own agro-ecosystems, particularly those in the watershed areas. In this regard, an interdisciplinary study of land use (or mis-use) patterns in a the upper reaches of a river basin or in a sub-basin, at least, and an economic valuation of the ecosystem services they offer (or they deny) may be in line with our compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, the SDG Target 15.3 which states that ‘by 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts’. As a necessary extension, such studies currently being done in traditional lowland cascade (Ellangawa) systems need to be expanded further.
Such projects not being of ‘mega-scale’ may not appeal to most politicians and as such, would not get the priority green light for implementation although we are committed to a green economy in this ‘Blue-Green Era’.
However, robust science coupled with traditional wisdom continued over many generations with a proven history of ‘starting small and ending big’ rather than the other way around would no doubt, prevail at the end, in this era of sustainable development.
We hope that the ministerial subcommittee would not only look at this problem in a short-term sectoral development perspective, but in a holistic manner in accordance with the national obligations to international agreements safeguarding health of humans and the environment of this island nation already burdened with many a man-made cataclysms.
(The writer is Professor Emeritus at the Peradeniya University)
Source – 26/07/2017, Daily News , see more at – http://www.dailynews.lk/2017/07/26/features/123193/herbicide-glyphosate-safe
Supreme Court stays garbage dumping at Muthurajawela till August 3
The Supreme Court today further extended its Interim Order till August 3, preventing authorities including the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) from dumping garbage in the Muthurajawela Sanctuary.
Three-judge-bench comprising Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, Justice Anil Goonaratne and Justice Nalin Perera made this order pursuant to a fundamental rights petition filed by 35 five residents in the close proximity of the Muthurajawela Sanctuary seeking an Interim Order directing the authorities not to store or dump garbage in the Sanctuary.
Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Rajaratnam appearing for the respondents had informed Court that the CMC was not disposing garbage at the Muthurajawela Sanctuary.
The petitioners cited Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), CMC Municipal Commissioner, Urban Development Authority (UDA), Central Environment Authority (CEA), the Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha and six other parties as respondents.
The petitioners further stated that the petitioners and their families and other residents of the close proximity of Muthurajawela Sanctuary have been severely affected and continue to be affected by this dumping.
The petitioners further stated that the area in question is declared a sanctuary under the Flora and Fauna Protection Act by the gazette dated 31.10.1996 in recognition of its vast bio-diversity.
The petitioners further stated that the Muthurajawela is also a large paddy field and it also consist of water canals, marsh lands and the forest.
As per the register of the Agrarian Development Office of the area shows that the total extent of paddy fields in the Muthurajawela amount to 635 acres and a marsh and mangrove amounts to 7,000 acres, the petitioners added.
The petitioners stated that by the said action of dumping garbage in to the sanctuary without any authority or following property procedures, the authorities who allowed and commit such acts have violated the Laws of the country including Section 33(1) and 34(1) of the Agrarian Development Act No.46 of 2000, Section 7(1) (h) (i), Section 7(1) (c) (ii) of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance.
The said acts done by the CMC have infringed Fundamental Rights of the petitioners as well as of the members of the general public guaranteed to them by them by Article 12(1) and 14(1) (g) and the Fundamental Right to life which is also constituted and guaranteed by the Constitution of the republic.
The petitioners further sought a declaration on the respondents to take necessary actions and appropriate steps to ensure that no garbage is deposited and dumped in the Muthurajawela Sanctuary.
Source – 25/07/2017, Daily News, See more at – http://www.dailynews.lk/2017/07/25/local/123132/supreme-court-stays-garbage-dumping-muthurajawela-till-august-3
Herbal garden at CTS
All staffers, instructors and trainees at the Combat Training School (CTS), Ampara, together launched a new ‘Osu Uyana’ (Herbal Garden) after planting 100 indigenous species within the premises recently.
The simple planting ceremony took place in the presence of the CTS Commandant, Major General Shantha Dissanayake.
Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCOs) and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) under training in the ongoing ‘Leadership Development Course No 15’ also joined in the planting ceremony. (MT)
Source – 25/07/2017, Ceylon today, See more at – http://www.ceylontoday.lk/article20170401CT20170930.php?id=5794
Garbage to Produce 30MW power
By Niranjala Ariyawansha
The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development yesterday said that tenders have been awarded to three companies to construct three small power plants with a combined 30 MW capacity in the Western Province using waste for energy generation.
Secretary to the Ministry Nihal Rupasinghe told Ceylon Today that they hope that work on these small power plants will commence within the next two months. He added that it will be possible to add the 30MW from these three power plants, to the national grid within the next two years.
These power plants will be located in Colombo, Gampaha and Karadiyana. Tenders for construction have been awarded to a German, Korean and Sri Lankan company respectively.
Rupasinghe said “We will make arrangements to produce 10MW at each of the three power plants.
“All engineering and logistics work in connection with all three power plants have been completed and the three companies which will be constructing the three power plants have now begun working towards obtaining the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) from the Central Environmental Authority.”
These three power plants have an installed capacity of producing energy from 1,500 tons of garbage.
Another objective in constructing these plants is to use as a solution for the waste problem that’s mounting in the Western Province.
Source – 22/07/2017, Ceylon today , See more at – http://www.ceylontoday.lk/article20170401CT20170930.php?id=5761
Forest fires, deliberate in some cases, finish off native plants
The Nilgala herbal forest in the Monaragala District from where medicinal plants are obtained for Ayurvedic treatments was among several areas from where wildfires were reported this week.
Forest fires, mostly in parts of the Baddulla and Monaragala Districts destroyed plants and animals as well as endemic and rare plants.
Forest fires destroy endemic and rare plants. Pic by Sumanasiri Gunathilake
Adviser of the Uva Provincial Department of Ayurveda, Piyal Marasinghe, said highly valued medicinal plants could become extinct if such wildfires caused by humans continued.
“Although large medicinal trees such as Bulu, Nelli and Aralu survive these fires, rare herbal plants like Vanaraja, Kadulessa, Bin Kohomba suffer significant damage during July and August when forest fires are more common,” he said.
He said herbs such as Bin Kohomba which are effective in treating viral flu and threatened species including Duhudu have been destroyed in forest fires reported in the Nilgala forest.
According to a report by the Forest Department last year, fires had damaged more than 2,300 hectares (5,683 acres) of forest cover. This year, Monaragala and Badulla were the worst affected. Last year, 469.9 hectares (1,161 acres) and 229 hectares (565 acres) of forest cover was affected in Badulla and in Monaragala districts respectively.
This year, an estimated 161 ha (400 acres) have been destroyed in forest fires in the Monaragala District.
Districts such as Matale and Kandy which were severely affected by forest fires last year with about 257.8 ha (637 acres) and 240.3 Ha (593 acres) respectively, they have not yet been significantly affected this month. However, district officials predict more fires, especially during August.
A few other incidents were also reported at the beginning of this month in Anuradhapura District.
A H Ravindra Kumara, assistant director of the disaster management unit, Monaragala District, said the dry spell is the major reason for the rapid spread of the fires.
At the time we were speaking to him on Thursday evening, he said out of the four forest fires reported on Wednesday, two had been doused with the assistance of the area residents, forest conservation officials and the army while the other two in Kotabowa shrub jungle and Kumbukkana Kalawalaragama reserve had not been doused.
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Mr Kumara said some fires are set deliberately, while there also are instances of negligence.
“Poachers set fire to forests to trap animals. One trick is to set fire from one side and wait at the other side to catch them, or sometimes they catch the animals that come to eat the tender grass that grow after a fire,” he said. He added that there were also instances when people set fire to illegally grab land that belongs to reserves and forests.
Sand miners are another group largely responsible for fires on slopes and hilly areas, Mr Kumara said. He said that when vegetation on slopes are set alight in the dry season by sand miners, the sand washes off to the rivers in the rainy season. “This allows the miners to extract more sand from river beds,” he explained.
Illegal cannabis growers also often set fire to grasslands. Then they grow cannabis plants which are concealed amid tall grasses such as mana.
According to him, forest fires are common in Obbegoda, Kumbukgoda, Buththala and Wellawaya.
E M L Udaya Kumara, assistant director of Badulla District Disaster Management Coordination Unit said about five forest fires are reported to him every day.
He said forest fires are common in Hali Ela, Ella, Bandarawela, Koranathota, Meegahakiul, and Lunuwela areas.
Hali Ela Divisional Secretary in Badulla said more than 32 ha of forests had been destroyed in the Hali Ela divisional secretariat alone this month while many small patana areas too, had been affected due to fires.
Mr Kumara said illegal loggers and game hunters are setting fires along with livestock owners who try to clear the land to regenerate grass for their herds. But there are also arsonists seeking cheap thrills.
“Usually those who intentionally set fires do so in the evenings or at the night especially on Saturdays and Sundays,’’ he said.
He said water catchment areas, commercial plantations, forest plantations and even business ventures, schools, water lines suffer damage.
Environmentalists claim that all fires are caused by Sri Lankans.Supun Lahiru Prakash, president of the Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle, said forest fires destroy many endemic species. “We have found monkeys, loris and pangolin trapped in fires,” he said.
One adverse outcome is the spread of invasive species when native species are destroyed in fires.
Mr Prakash said the destruction alters the climate and the hydrological cycle.
He said the capacity of rivers is also reduced when silt builds up due soil erosion. Agricultural lands are damaged as well.
Meanwhile, Nanda Kumara, conservator of forests, protection and law enforcement of the Forest Department, said efforts are underway to reduce forest fires.
They include awareness programmes among the public and school children, forest restoration, deploying watchmen and creating fire belts. In some forests, a 22 foot wide portion has been removed to prevent fires from burning deep into the interior areas.
Source – 23/07/2017, The Sunday Times, See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170723/news/forest-fires-deliberate-in-some-cases-finish-off-native-plants-251519.html
